Baton Rouge - LSU is on its way to Atlanta with its No. 1 ranking and 12-0 record. But the Tigers had to pass through their first touch of on-field adversity Friday. No. 3 Arkansas took a 14-0 lead before LSU broke out of its early funk to slam the Razorbacks 41-17 at Tiger Stadium before an announced crowd of 93,108.

The victory clinched the SEC West title, gave LSU its first 8-0 league record and secured a spot in next Saturday's SEC championship game against Georgia in the Georgia Dome at 3 p.m. It also probably clinched the Tigers a spot in the BCS championship game in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Jan. 9, win or lose next week.

"It's a great feeling to get to this point, but we have some more work to do," junior cornerback Morris Claiborne said. "We haven't won anything but the West Division title, but all of our goals are still in front of us. Being 12-0 is icing on the cake."

Tyrann Mathieu's 92-yard punt return tied the score at 14 in the second quarter, energized the team and electrified the crowd. LSU went on to take a 21-14 lead into halftime and the put the Razorbacks away in the second half with a suffocating defense and crunching rushing attack.

The 14-0 deficit was LSU's largest since trailing Ole Miss 21-3 in 2008, although the players said they weren't concerned.

"We want people to know even if you're up on us 14, it doesn't matter," said guard Will Blackwell, who was among 25 seniors honored before their final game at Tiger Stadium and helped the Tigers rush for 286 yards and total 494. "We fight to the very end and no day was that as true as today.

"It kind of made us mad, but we never worried about it. Fourteen points isn't a lot for us, especially with the defense (and special teams) we have. They can score in a heartbeat and when Tyrann Mathieu gets close to the ball, it's trouble for the other team."

And how. Mathieu grabbed Dylan Breeding's 42-yard punt at his 8-yard line and started right. He cut back to the left without any blocking at the point of attack and cut again between two defenders to speed down the left side of the field for his first career punt return for a score.

Mathieu went on to have one of his best games while starting at safety in place of injured Eric Reid. Mathieu forced a fumble on the next defensive series that led to the Tigers' go-ahead score (21-14), forced and recovered another fumble in the third quarter and finished with a team-high eight tackles.

"That was an attitude adjustment for our defense and myself to step our game up," defensive end Sam Montgomery said. "It was time to go. From there the momentum carried us, it went through all of us."

The offense responded by driving 66 yards to score with 59 seconds left in the first half on a 9-yard pass from Jordan Jefferson to Russell Shepard. Jefferson completed four of five passes for all of the yardage on the drive, and was 18-of-29 for 208 yards for the game. He connected with Rueben Randle nine times for 134 yards.

Freshman Kenny Hilliard sparked the running game with a career-high 102 yards on 19 carries. His 6-yard scoring run put LSU on the board to cap a 77-yard drive to get the Tigers' offense moving.

Arkansas (10-2, 6-2) hung tough through the third quarter and exchanged field goals to stay within 24-17. But the Tigers slowly tightened their grip and scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, holding the Razorbacks to 89 yards in the second half.

LSU sacked the SEC's leading passer, Tyler Wilson, five times and held him to 14-of-22 passing for 207 yards, 85 below his season average. Montgomery sacked him to help force a three-and-out before LSU drove 45 yards to make it 31-17 on a 7-yard run by Spencer Ware with 11:04 to play.

"We were thinking of this as our redemption game after West Virginia because we gave up a lot of yards passing," senior safety Brandon Taylor said. "We knew they would come out passing and we had to come out big. Our D-line played a tremendous game, they actually took over the game by themselves."

Arkansas turned the ball over on its next two possessions. Claiborne got his fifth interception of the season and Mathieu had another strip and recovery. Jefferson ran 48 yards for a score and Drew Alleman kicked his second field goal, 37 yards, to finish off the scoring.

Arkansas had only 47 rushing yards

"We got beat by a better football team," said Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino, whose team had to deal with the death of freshman tight end Garrett Uekman on Sunday. "I thought we were where we wanted to be in the first half. We had a chance to drive it and take the lead, but in the second half we really did not execute well on offense.

"I'm proud of our football team. It has obviously been a tough week for us, but we did a good job in preparation. We competed hard and stuck together as a team."

It was the eighth time this season LSU has scored at least 40 points and the players reveled in becoming the first Tigers team to go 12-0. Seven of those victories came against ranked opponents, including three against Top 5 foes.

"It's a tremendous compliment to this team," Blackwell said. "We worked so hard in camp, summer and spring. We have a lot of time invested and any time you go 12-0, it's a huge reward that makes everything worth it."

Said LSU Coach Les Miles: "We played a lot of good football teams this season and took on all comers. This is a special team. The bigger the game, the better it plays."